Algis Budrys

Algirdas Jonas Budrys, better known as Algis Budrys, (January 9, 1931 - June 9, 2008) was a writer of Lithuanian origin, born in Königsberg (Kaliningrad), East Prussia. He went with his family in 1936 to New York (USA), where his father served as Lithuanian consul.

He began his career in 1950. He has written a couple of novels that are considered "classics" of science fiction: Who? (1958) and The Labyrinth of the Moon (1960). Later some of his works have derived into pure fiction. In 1993 he launched the magazine Tomorrow Speculative Fiction which would be the first to go, in 1997, to the electronic distribution format through the web.

Budrys has garnered several major award nominations, but has not achieved any wins. In 1959 the Hugo of A Case of Conscience defeated Who?, in 1961 the Hugo went to Cántico por Leibowitz above The Labyrinth of the Moon. And in 1993 the Nebula nomination for Hard Landing was beaten by Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars. He has had the same bad luck with some of her nominated stories.